Wolfff appalled by disappointing Mercedes: 'Nothing positive about it at all'

Should Lewis Hamilton and George Russell think Mercedes' result in the Bahrain Grand Prix was not that bad, they can hereby put that out of their minds. Indeed, according to Toto Wolff, there is "absolutely nothing positive" that the team can take from the opening race of the Formula One season.

"There is absolutely nothing positive that we can take from this race," Wolff gave an assessment to Sky Sports. Initially, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were reasonably positive as they expected a better pace in the race than in qualifying, but that expectation was not met.

Mercedes could not match Ferrari's pace but also struggled heavily with Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. "We lacked pace. The drivers have to push and that's bad for the tyres. Red Bull are on another planet, Aston Martin have the second fastest car. It was a real wake-up call for us," concluded an upset Wolff.

"One of the worst days of racing. Not good at all," added the 51-year-old Austrian. He calls the huge gap to Red Bull Racing "painful". "It reminds me of our best years where we put a second on everyone else. That is the benchmark," Wolff said.